Here's an alpha female time capsule oddity which demonstrates how far femme-centric shows like ALIAS, BUFFY and XENA have come in the intervening thirty years. I was nine when this aired in '74 and recall being aware even then that this was pretty thin, though it had considerable appeal in the strangely droll relationship between charismatic quasi-badguy Ricardo Montalban and mannequinesque Cathy Lee Crosby. Montalban breathes suaveness and chivalry into what should have been a really clichéd and lame villain. As much as Cathy Lee founders in her debut, she has surprising chemistry with Ricardo and their scenes together crackle. If you watch it, be prepared for some unintentional laughter and not much action but whenever Ricardo shows up, things improve.
The last ten minutes are very good fun, though, and given this was the fledgling attempt to get a strong female action adventure star on the air in the 70s, it earns some points for helping pave the way for The Bionic Woman and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman which soon followed. Less a well-written, directed or thought out product than a fascinating glimpse into the early-mid seventies groovy escapist approach and certainly worth a look for fans of the genre. Still, don't expect much chop-socky or action; Cathy Lee is unconvincing in her few physical engagements (and her skin tight jumpsuit is so unrevealing it is about as sexy as a diet cola (the swingin' seventies censors rein things in unfortunately.) Somehow I still find it amusing, to a degree. 5/10
The last ten minutes are very good fun, though, and given this was the fledgling attempt to get a strong female action adventure star on the air in the 70s, it earns some points for helping pave the way for The Bionic Woman and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman which soon followed. Less a well-written, directed or thought out product than a fascinating glimpse into the early-mid seventies groovy escapist approach and certainly worth a look for fans of the genre. Still, don't expect much chop-socky or action; Cathy Lee is unconvincing in her few physical engagements (and her skin tight jumpsuit is so unrevealing it is about as sexy as a diet cola (the swingin' seventies censors rein things in unfortunately.) Somehow I still find it amusing, to a degree. 5/10